When I was putting the KidLit Scoop together last week, I realized how close we were to a spectacular milestone:

issues.

It’s become a ritual, editing the newsletter every Sunday while I sprawl upon the couch and get a Netflix tan. I hope the KidLit Scoop has become a Monday morning ritual for you too, as we pick our way through the Children’s Publishing Business minefield together.

Celebrate the 100th issue of the Scoop with me by participating in a little give-away. Here’s how:

Be a KidLit Scoop subscriber. If you already are, you’re set. If you need to be, sign up via the icon over in the sidebar on the right. AND THEN…

Leave a comment below using the email that your copy of the KidLit Scoop goes to. So I can check that the winner is, indeed, a Scoop subscriber. (Your email will not be published.) Doesn’t matter if you want to talk about the Scoop, the gross national product or leave a dot for your comment. ALL ENTRIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATION.

WHOA WHOA WHOA, lady, don’t you wanna know what you can win?

Along with various and sundry writerly office supplies, the winner will receive an Anne Geddes “Down in the Garden” journal and THE CURIOSITIES: a collection of stories by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff, SIGNED BY ALL 3 AUTHORS. Behold:

enthusiastic dog not included.

Contest closes 12:01 AM ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14TH. Winner will be drawn and announced in the 100th issue of the Kidlit Scoop, and on this blog on Monday, December 15th.

Enter below. Be a sport and tweet this link if you have time, will ya?

Like this:

It’s that time of year again, full of thrills and chills and things that go bump in the night.

When many usually sane people decide to attend commercial haunted houses and ghost tours.

Now, I haven’t attended a haunted house and I never will, based on this:

And this:

And this:

But I have gone on a bunch of ghost tours, and I’ve got a few tips for writers and others about…

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A WALKING GHOST TOUR

Stay in the front–sounds obvious. But if you trail the group you will miss things. Even if the Ghost Walk Conductor uses a bullhorn, you’re gonna miss stuff. Random people walking down the street will ask you what’s going on. Other ghost tour customers will buttonhole you with their own personal ghost stories. Which are almost never any good. And the tour leader will often talk to the people in the front, off-mike.

Laugh, gasp and generally encourage the guide–even if it makes you feel like a bit player in a melodrama. An engaged audience is a lot more fun for everybody–including the speaker. If he enjoys delivering his spiel, he’ll ham it up. Throw in extra tidbits of information that he might skip if he’s in a hurry to ditch a surly group.

Ask questions–figure out whether your speaker is more interested in the ghosty or historical part of his job. If he’s working for a ghost tour company, he’s enthusiastic about at least one. And usually knows a lot more about his subject than he’s telling you. If you’ve got a question, ask it. But dear God, please don’t tell the group about the time your great-grandmother heard the Banshee cry. Nobody cares. Sorry.

Interrupt–honest to Murgatroyd, I have become intolerant of fools in my middle age. As far as I’m concerned, a chatty audience member gets one it’s-all-about-me comment per situation. If a fellow ghost tourist feels the need to continually take the speaker’s presentation off track, interrupt with a question that will help the him get back to business. (“Did George Washington sleep here?”) Or simply repeat the last thing the tour guide said. (“You said he had a wooden leg named ‘Smith’. Go on.”) 99.999999% of the time, he will be grateful.

Tip–come on, cheapskate. You flattered and cajoled your host into giving you the ghost tour of a lifetime, now tip him. And while you’re at it, ask him to recommend historical and paranormal sources you can check out. After all, this is book research, right? RIGHT?

A few of you might be aware that I edit an almost-weekly newsletter called the KIDLIT SCOOP. (Which contains news and opportunities in children’s publishing. Click over on the side there, if you want to subscribe.) But have you noticed the platform I use to compose and send the newsletter to one and all?

MailChimp has a tiered pricing system–one price for mega-volume use, another price for medium-large customers…and for the little guy who only has a couple-hundred subscribers, it’s free.

That’s right. Free.

ANYWAY. Couple weeks ago I had a bit of trouble. So I emailed The Chimp, asking for help. The little nipper emailed me back with wonderful suggestions…and well, we got quite a little correspondence going while we tackled the problem. Which of course, got solved.

BUT THEN.

Yes! The support guy was so relieved that our correspondence was calm and pleasant, he sent me a prize!

THE POINT

Well, there’s more than one. First, LOOK AT THAT COOL HAT. Second, be nice and nice things will happen to you. (Which I don’t believe happens all that often, but it’s worth a try.)

Most of all, look at how MailChimp has treated me, a non-paying user. Forget the slick ads and noisy social media–

THAT. Is how you make a loyal customer. In the future, when I need to send a mass mailing to every man, woman and child in the United States of America, where do you think I’m going to go?

I’ve been working like a demon for months and months on my current WIP. And am now halfway through my final pass, mere weeks away from being done.

STICK A FORK IN IT.

So I thought I’d get back in ye ol’ blogging habit. Today, let us consider:

SEVEN TUMBLRS I WISH THEY WOULD UPDATE

Sad Etsy Boyfriends–Their mission statement: “Dedicated to the wretched creatures abused for economic gains by their Etsy girlfriends.” Oh, lawsy. How I wish they’d post a few more specimens. Guys in undersized knit hats, guys in pink hoodies with green applique whales, and half-nekkid guys wearing nothing but feathers. ALL SAD.

Paula Deen Riding Things— “We adore Ms. Deen, and the last thing we want is to upset her.” Naw, this blog doesn’t upset Ms. Deen. Just because these two guys photoshopped Paula riding the Easter bunny, Anthony Davis’ eyebrows, and most famously, sticks of butters.

Tom Hanks is a Bunch of Animals–Animal photos and gifs, with various Tom Hanks heads attached. You haven’t lived until you’ve watched a parakeet with Tom Hanks’ head, rolling around on a tennis ball. Please, please, please, post some more!

Halloween or Williamsburg–I want this tumblr to be my best friend. Pictures of people dressed, um, eccentrically. And you’re supposed to guess if they’re wearing Halloween costumes or their usual attire. HINT: It’s never a Halloween costume.

Kim Jong-il Looking At Things–What a classic. The Dear Leader liked to…how should I put it? Oh yes. Look at things. Fairly intently. There aren’t going to be any more posts, I’m pretty sure you know why. What a shame.

Texts From Bennet–This tumblr has been picked up for publication, and hasn’t been updated for nearly five months. Woe. Is. Me. Because “These are text messages I exchange with my 17 year old cousin Bennett. He is a white boy that thinks he’s a Crip, is currently unemployed, has a girlfriend named Mercedes…by the way, this blog is 100% real.” Real HILARIOUS.

Like this:

One of the best things about having writerly friends, is celebrating with them when they cross the finish line. One of my talented friends in such a position is LOUISE GALVESTON, author of By the Grace of Todd.

Currently, I’m revising a perky little YA manuscript that involves cellular memory, serial killing and sex. And also, bad words. Although this story is quite dark, it’s a lot of fun for me. It’s set in my home state of Texas, and recreating the rhythm of Texan speech patterns, as well as idioms peculiar to the state, is like wrapping myself in a warm serape.

B. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I write books for guys that girls like to read too. If it’s a subject that’s usually discussed in whispers, I wave it like bunting on the Fourth of July. My stories are gritty and realistic, but always with a small twist that makes the world skew a bit toward the weird.

C. Why do I write what I do?

You’d have to ask my psychiatrist.

D. How does your writing process work?

I believe in vomiting out your first draft–just GET IT DOWN. As I write, characters’ names change, the plot careens wildly and I might try on different tenses and points of view. DOESN’T MATTER. Then, I choose which tense and point of view I like, and rewrite for plot and story elements. Then a third draft concentrating on character, setting and cleaning up plot holes. Then a last pass to clean up anything I missed. I. Am. Thorough.

NEXT WEEK, MAY 5TH (may already) GO SEE MY PALS’ POSTS ON THIS VERY SUBJECT:

Heather Trent Beers’ blog, I’M JUST SAYIN’:

Heather is my adorable friend who writes articles for magazines and periodicals, local and national, for kids and parents. She also writes charming picture books, as well as edits for cash money. We like to travel together under aliases. http://heathertrentbeers.blogspot.com/

Tessa Elwood’s blog, INK & ANGST:

Tessa is my cool friend who writes YA novels and designs websites and also is a photographer extraordinaire. This gal’s got her fingers in so many pies *CORN ALERT CORN ALERT* we call her Marie Callendar. She also lets me post on her blog sometimes. Is that a pal, or what? http://inkandangst.com/

Heather Ayris Burnell’s blog, FROLICKING THROUGH CYBERSPACE:

Heather is my cyberfriend. We met on Twitter and have yet to coordinate a meeting IRL. BUT I HAVE FAITH. She’s lives on a mountain and raises things–crops, critters and kids. And writes picture books, as well as a YA here and there. I love her madly, and am so curious to get together in person so I can hear her voice. I imagine it is smooth as a lamb’s ear and fresh as goat’s milk. http://frolickingthroughcyberspace.blogspot.com/

Now that we’re all good and melancholy, here’s the point of this post:

Have you noticed that like and share buttons have disappeared from your favorite blogs? Or perhaps, even your very own blog?

Um, be that as it may…I’ve found the problem.

IF YOU ARE A FIREFOX USER WITH THE ADBLOCK ADD-ON, GO TO TOOLS>ADBLOCK PLUS>FILTER PREFERENCES>FILTER SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BY JIMINY, DISABLE FANBOY’S ANNOYANCE LIST.

Yes, I understand some tracking might be perpetrated by a couple of social media sites. But lawsy, don’t you want to be able to share an interesting post on Tumblr, with one click? Or, perhaps, see what’s what on your own personal site?

Geez Louise, I despise New Year’s resolutions. I never keep them, and don’t even remember what I resolved past January 3rd. Usually, along about October I find the notebook I was supposed to write in every morning, stuffed under the car seat or kicked under the washing machine.

Then I despair.

Not this year, bucko!

I don’t want to generate failure anymore. No more promises to work on habits and goals that I don’t really want, no matter how many Good Writers recommend them. Instead, whatever interests me, I’m just gonna do it.

And when it doesn’t float my boat anymore, I will stop.

Maybe I’ll end up making the same changes in my life that a New Year’s Resolver does, but I won’t feel like I’m being punished, and I sure won’t feel guilty if my self-improvement ideas don’t work out.

I watched a documentary the other night about Harper Lee, called “Hey Boo“.

I’d been thinking about her upcoming court battle with her current agent. Imagine. Stealing the rights to one of the most beloved American novels of all time. Allegedly.

And I wondered why Miss Lee hadn’t written another book since To Kill a Mockingbird. I mean, nearly every page of that masterpiece has one quotable passage. Or two. Or even three.

The documentary indirectly answered the Mystery of Harper Lee’s Retirement for me:

It took her eight years of bumming around in odd jobs before she had a manuscript. She gave it to Tay Hohoff at Lippincott, who described it as a string of stories rather than a novel with a beginning, middle and end. But she saw something in Miss Lee’s writing, and guided her through several rewrites for two and a half years.

No. Kidding.

How often do editors do that sort of thing anymore? How would they have time? And how many brilliant novels have we lost, because there was no editor to guide the writer?

There have been a lot of conspiracy theories floated, claiming Harper Lee did not write To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the suspected authors being her childhood friend, Truman Capote. But I think we know now who helped Miss Lee write her book.

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